Early in the first period, Alex Ovechkin absorbed a painful high stick to his mouth from Miles Wood. The Devils forward would later apologize, but the errant stick sent a bloodied Ovechkin to the locker room.
“Obviously, I was a little mad,” Ovechkin said after the game. “It get me going.”
When the Russian machine returned (because he never breaks), he was determined to make the Devils pay. And pay they did.
Ovechkin tallied his 29th and 30th goals in the first period – two revenge goals. And in the third, he scored his 25th career hat trick – the most among all active players – to lead the Capitals to a 5-2 win.
Full hat trick video
Goal 1
Ovechkin’s first goal came 15:17 into the first period, minutes after he returned from getting attention in the locker room. Ovi fired an unstoppable one-timer past Louis Domingue.
“Forget it,” Joe Beninati yelled.
Goal 2
Ovechkin scored his second goal 3:51 later. Off a Nicklas Backstrom faceoff win, Ovechkin skated across the middle of the ice and fired a shot past a screened Domingue.
With the goal, Ovi hit the 30-goal mark for the 15th consecutive season.
Goal 3
Finally, in the third period, Ovechkin scored the hat trick after an unbelievable pass by Tom Wilson. All Ovi had to do was tap it in.
dat pass tho 👀 @tom_wilso pic.twitter.com/nRfmrlabN6
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 17, 2020
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) January 17, 2020
“Sick, obviously,” Ovechkin said. “Not lots of great players can do that, but you can see how he grow up as a player and leader. Basically, he can do everything out there. Wow, what a play.”
The Capitals had fun with it. While fans threw hats on the ice, John Carlson plopped one on Braden Holtby that had a bow.
Inside the locker room, Ovechkin credited his teammates for the three goals but admitted “It’s still pretty cool. I’m not going to lie.”
“I can just tell when he got that high stick in the first there,” Nicklas Backstrom said. “He got pissed off there. He always plays a little bit better when he’s pissed off. Came back, got a little mad, scored two, and then [hat trick] in the third. That’s the story of Ovi, I think.”
Russian machine never breaks, but he will most definitely need an oil and filter change after this high stick pic.twitter.com/DZTvBBCtVJ
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) January 17, 2020
Ovechkin (689) now sits one goal behind Mario Lemieux (690), one of his favorite players growing up, for 10th on the all-time goals list.
“Sometimes things work out how they should by the end of the night,” head coach Todd Reirden said.
Joe Beninati on Alex Ovechkin's career: "Wow we are lucky. Boy, are we lucky to watch this."
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) January 17, 2020
Full RMNB Coverage of Caps vs Devils
Headline photo: NBC Sports Washington
